BG

February 6, 2010

Earlier this week I saw a post somewhere about the validity of following blogs. There was a question about whether people who "follow" actually follow the blogs they sign onto or if they are just following without such intent.

Here is how I see it: I sign on to follow as many blogs as I possibly can. Do I follow them all? No, because that would be impossible. However, I have read all of the blogs I follow more than once and the thing about "following" is that you get to choose those that might have a common interest or that you somehow or some way get to know particular bloggers for one reason or another.

What I do think is very important is that I sign on to "follow" all new bloggers. For me this is a way to support and encourage someone who is just beginning to blog. When I began blogging a few years ago, I didn't know about the "follow" aspect of Blogger or if it even existed. My blogs had no particular direction because I wasn't aware of what other bloggers were writing about. I was pretty much all over the place.

When someone signs on to follow my blog, I take a look to see if they have any blog or blogs of their own and what kind of blogs they have signed on to follow. Very often this has lead me to other blogs that are of great interest to me and one thing I *always* do is reciprocate. If a blogger has signed on to follow my blog and I was not aware of that person's blog, I sign on to follow her or his blog.

So if you have a blog, or even if you don't, following a blog can provide encouragement to other bloggers - I think it is a sign of encouragement and support and it tells them "hey! your blog counts and I value it for one reason or another". Well that's my two cents worth about following blogs. Meanwhile, for all who follow my blog, I want you to know how very much I appreciate you and how I am encouraged whenever a new follower signs on.

9 comments:

Hi Lucie - I actually use the option that "Following" blogs gives me in my Blogger reader - that is the first place I check when I sit down for my nightly "blog read." Then, for those blogs that don't have the Follow feature, I check out the Blogroll on my blog. It's a little bit more cumbersome than just using a regular reader, but I enjoy doing it that way. I don't read every blog every day, but I do read quite a few!

That is a great way of following/reading other blogs. I try to do that whenever I can and I do follow updates on my Blogroll. Whatever we do, I think it is important to support one another however we can do that.

very nice post...I try to check in on all the blogs I follow atleast once a week....it does make you feel good when you see your follower numbers go up...but then it makes you wonder when you don't have that many comments...you can usually tell who your main followers are because they are the ones that comment on a regular basis...

I don't always understand why people do not post a comment. In my case, some of the people who've known me for some time though my Acadian Ancestral Home web site often send me a private email about the blog or sometimes post a message on my Facebook wall.

Some day when I retire from being retired (smile) perhaps I'll be able to keep up with many more blogs. Like many, I don't know how I ever got anything done when I worked full time ;o)

I agree with Deb, I try to read & post a comment to each one I'm following once a week. Sometimes it gets done, other times it does. I know people who won't leave comments (or do so anonymously) because they don't want to sign up for a google account.

Good post - I especially like and agree with your comment about following new blogs. When I first started blogging and was absolutely amazed when people followed me! I remember telling my sister after a few days - "I have 20 people following me and they're NOT relatives!" It really encouraged me to continue.

I know that I don't comment as much as I should - and there are weeks when I don't read any blogs because life gets in the way. But following allows me to easily see which blogs have new activity when I do have time.

Also, in Google reader I have folders so I can organize them into groups that make sense for me.

Thank you for your comments Mary and Diana - I agree that life get does get in the way a whole lot at times lol

I don't post a comment as often I should either but I'm going to resolve to do so in the future. There are just so many good blogs out there. First and foremost, I agree with what you say about having a new blog and being encouraged by "followers"

This Lucie's Legacy is only a couple of months old and as I've seen other bloggers and non-bloggers sign on to follow, I have found it most encouraging. My other blog has been around a couple of years so there are quite a few followers.

I too try to follow new bloggers and welcome them to the blog world. I comment regularly on almost all if I can add something to the topic at hand. If all I could say is "nice post" then I don't bother because that is not sincere and not me. I am starting back to full time work on Monday and I am going to try so hard to still keep up with posting and with visiting my followers. I think the followers gadget is important. It creates community and exposes our blogs to the readers of other blogs as well. Even those bloggers who say they only write for themselves I feel we do a better job of it when we know others will be reading it.

Born and raised in Massachusetts to an Acadian father and French-Canadian mother, I have been working on our family history for many years. I began with my mother's side of the family when I was about 11 years old. It was a long time before I knew my father was Acadian. I love knowing my heritage. It gives me a wonderful sense of who I am.
After all these years, you can imagine how many books I have purchased for research. I've decided it is time to part with some of these precious research materials - thus the creation of this blog "Lucie's Book Nook".
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Lucie LeBlanc Consentino

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Lucie's Legacy, Acadian Ancestral Home, Whispers Through The Willows. This Award is dedicated to my mother Roseanna Levesque LeBlanc. It is awarded to bloggers who keep the memory of their ancestors alive.